Memoirs of a Speedsters Daughter
by Alla Bethony
Summary: They had been a team for years, then she disappeared. No reason, no information on where she was going. Twelve years later, they had all grown up. They moved on. Never in their lives did they expect a red-headed eleven-year-old to bring them all together.
1. Prologue

They had been a team for years, and then she disappeared. She gave no reason, no information on where she was going. Twelve years later, they had all grown up. They had moved on. Never in their lives did they expect a red-headed eleven-year-old to bring them back together…

A brush moved through a head of fire-red hair, pulling it back into a pony-tail. Cut bangs hung over the youth's forehead; she brushed them to the side and looked at herself in the mirror. Red hair was a curse on its own, let alone blended in with a face of freckles. She rubbed a tired green eye, yawning and walking out of the bathroom.

"Mom," She called out, "I'm going to school."

Artemis stood in the kitchen, zipping a lunchbox up and slipping it into a red backpack. She handed it to the young girl with a small smirk, cupping a hand on her cheek.

"Junior high school…" She said quietly. "It feels like you were just born yesterday."

She kissed her forehead, patting her on the back before walking with her to the front door.

"I can walk to the bus stop by myself you know… In fact, I could get to school by myself _without_ the bus if you'd let me-"

"Rufina!" Artemis yelled with a glair. "I've told you hundreds of times-"

"I know." The red-head said with a slight giggle. She waved her wrists in the air mockingly, "No using my powers, it's _dangerous_. Yet, I'm allowed to practice archery whenever I want."

"I'm not arguing with you, Ruf." She said pinching her temples. "Just… go to school."

Rufina rolled her eyes, giving her mother a little smile and wink before walking out the door. Artemis shook her head with a grin.

"You're just like your father…" She said. Her head turned to the mantle of the fireplace, eyes skimming the family photos. When she had discovered that she was pregnant, she had left the team. She had to… she had only been nineteen years old at the time. Batman was the only one who she had told, if only because she knew that he would find out eventually. He was Batman after all.

She sighed at the memories of the team. Walking in on M'gann and Connor making out in the kitchen, Dick and Wally battling with action figures of themselves… Kaldur cleaning up after everyone…

Then the pregnancy.

She never told him about it. She couldn't… They had never been dating when they were making love. They had never discussed what they were doing, never talked about it afterwards. It had been happening for several months before she got pregnant.

_A young Artemis walked into the room where Batman stood, her expression even more serious than his own. _

_ "Bats, we need to talk." She said. "I'm resigning the team."_

_Batman turned to her, his expression not moving a muscle. _

_ "What are your reasons?" He asked emotionlessly._

_She thought about lying to him. Telling him that she had to take care of her mother… But she knew better than that. She wouldn't be surprised if he already knew about her predicament._

_ "I'm pregnant." She let out, shame making itself known on her face._

_ "Do you plan on telling Wally?" Still no emotion._

_She blushed. Not that she was surprised that he knew about them._

"_No." She said._

_There was a moment of silence. Not even a cricket could have been heard chirping. _

_ "Very well."_

She packed her things that night, saying good bye to no one other than Wolf and Sphere. If the team knew that she was leaving, they would question her. She had to just disappear.

Several months later, she gave birth. She had learned in school that ginger was a dominate gene, but she wasn't expecting that mass of orange hair and freckles to be placed in her arms.

Rufina, a Greek name meaning 'red-haired' seemed appropriate… even though with age she eventually became Rory.

Rory was her father's daughter… even if he didn't know that she existed. Artemis's grocery bill had shot through the roof over the past few years, ever since Rory had begun developing her powers. She was hyperactive and a smart mouth, but she had every ability to be serious when she needed to. She had even begun inheriting his commentary.

There were days where Artemis wondered if she should finally tell him about her. He would probably be angry. It would look like all she wanted was child support, which she was doing perfectly fine without. Her mother tried to help out when she could, and Jade was currently caring for a baby of her own. They were all doing about as alright as they could be. Not good, but alright.

And every so often she would find that her bills were being paid by someone else. Not every month, just enough for her to know that someone was looking out for her…

She would smile and roll her eyes. Then, mentally, she would give a little thank you.

**A/N: I apologize that this chapter is short, but I wanted it to be an introduction along with a part of the actual story. No worries! Rory will for sure have a bigger part in the next chapter. Any suggestions will be appreciated and considered! **


	2. Part 1

Rory twister a finger through her bangs, nibbling at the end of a pencil. She had expected the first day of junior high school to be just a little bit more entertaining than this. There were no back to school parties, no eating sweets during class, just plain old boring school.

She sighed, stretching her legs out beneath her desk and looking at the sheet of paper in front of her.

_What kind of school starts you off with a test on things you don't know about yet? _She thought to herself, reading through some of the questions. She was good at math and science; in fact she was good at most subjects in school, but this test was pointless.

She pulled a comic book out of her backpack, pulling her feet up onto the chair. A picture of the Justice League took up the comics cover. _Based on real events_, it said in large letters.

Her mother didn't discuss her heroic past with her, changing the topic whenever she brought it up. It was hard for her to imagine that her mom had worked with members of the League. That she had talked face to face with Superman and Batman. Yet she knew that Artemis's past was the reason she didn't let her use her powers. She had super speed, just like the Flash, and thanks to her mother she wasn't bad with a bow either.

She had tried asking in the past how many of the heroes she had met. She could introduce her to someone, she could become a sidekick. The next Kid Flash.

Yeah, right…

Artemis was protective; she would never introduce her to the League. Hell, if Rory hadn't discovered her mother's costume and old bow in the attic she never would have even told her about her past.

"_You might have powers…" Artemis said, taking the hand of an eight-year-old Rory. Her eyes lit up, her hands shaking with both fear and joy. "I was a hero at one point, Rory. So was your father. I'm not sure how powers work in regards to being passed down but…" She paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath. "It's possible for you to be a metahuman…"_

Seeing as she had developed super speed, the secret of Artemis's past wouldn't have been hidden for much longer anyway. She wouldn't tell her much about her father. He had been a hero as well apparently, but she gave her no name. She wouldn't even tell her if he was still alive. Given her power, she could have some relation to the Flash. That's if powers work that way. In regards to being born with them it could very well be completely random.

"Time." Her teacher yelled out, causing her to burst back into reality. It really didn't matter that she ignored the test. There would be no point to it in the long run. All that mattered to her right now was that her last class was finished with and she could go home. _I could run home…_ She thought with a smirk. Her mom was smarter than that. She was old enough to know what she couldn't try without being caught. She wouldn't have any excuse for being home so early anyway, she realized. She wasn't very fast yet, but she would still beat her bus by a good ten minutes.

_ Maybe I'll try it when moms working…_ She thought. It was Artemis's day off today, which meant that it was the only time that she could get any peace and quiet. It wasn't easy trying to control a pre-teen, and it didn't help that Jade had been leaving the baby at their house a few nights a week.

_ "I love Lian to death…" She would groan to her sister. "But you can't just keep pawning her off on me. Have you considered rethinking your priorities in life? I gave up everything for my daughter, and it was the best lesson that I've ever learned."_

Of course they all knew that she would never say no to babysitting, no matter how many times she had threatened to. The part of her that wanted Jade to change was also the part of her that understood. She had a child young too, and it wasn't easy. You had a new guideline to follow; it wasn't all about you anymore.

Rory slung her backpack over her shoulder and got on the bus. Even on the first day of school she had to make sure to get home fast enough to do her homework before Lian came over. A baby in the house was distracting, and she had a hard enough time paying attention as it was. ADD medication couldn't do anything because her metabolism would take about five minutes to flush it out of her system, so she dealt with it.

"I'm home." The red-head called out before walking in the door. She paused for a moment before closing the door behind her. Something felt different about the house… There was a tension in the air that struck her like a brick wall. "Mom?" She called out.

"Rufina, go to your room." Her mom shot back. She stood in the kitchen with an unknown figure, anger and worry set in her eyes.

"What's going on?" Rory asked anxiously as she walked closer to the kitchen.

"There's been a problem with your Aunt. Now go to your room."

The figure looked at her as she walked. His face was stern and serious and his red hair was well managed; styled to make him appear a bit younger than he actually was.

"I can't deal with this right now, Roy…" She heard her mother whisper. Little Lian sat on the carpet with a bag of toys. "Leave her here for now. We have everything that she needs… We can discuss it tomorrow."

Roy glanced at Lian silently before moving his eyes back to Artemis.

"She signed custody over to _me_." He said. "She's my daughter. Not yours. Jade isn't coming back and she needs someone who can watch her full time. I can do that. I'll get a job; have her in daycare during the day."

"What if you relapse?"

"I'm off of the drugs and you know it. If anything, she can help me to stay off. I'll actually have something worth fighting for."

Artemis laid her head on the counter, sighing in anger and sadness. Roy stood in silence before remembering the older child who had walked into the house.

"The other girl…" He said. "She called you mom? She's your daughter?"

It was then that he finally noticed the photos on the wall and mantle. A young red-head, ten or eleven… Artemis had vanished without a trace twelve years ago…

"You left because you were pregnant…" It came out a statement more than a question. He eyed the photos again, taking in the features of the young girl. Orange hair and freckles… and her facial features looked so familiar… She looked almost like…

Like…

Then it hit him.

"Oh my god…" He said flabbergasted, his eyes now locked on hers. He wore a mask of shock, which was hard to accomplish when he had learned about his fatherhood let than twelve hours ago.

"Does he know?" He asked.

"No." Artemis responded with a sigh. She couldn't make eye contact with him… This wasn't happening. "And you're not going to tell him."

With that she got up, walking into the living room and picking Lian off of the ground. "Lian will stay with me tonight." She repeated. "We'll talk about it tomorrow."

With that, Roy left. He could tell by her voice that this topic was not up for debate, especially when he had already hit such a hard spot in her life.

_A baby…_ He thought. _No, worse… A child._

Artemis's words continued to repeat in his head.

_No… and you're not going to tell him._

Yesterday, that might have worked… But right now was different. Roy had not been told about his daughter at first either and he knew how angry he would be if he found out that somebody else had known. Worse… Known and not told him…

He had to tell him. He had no choice…


	3. Part 2

Rory slowly opened her bedroom door, peeking out of the crack. Artemis sat on the couch with a hand pressed to her face and baby Lian in her lap.

"Mom…" She called out quietly, opening the door a little bit wider. Her mother's lack of response told her that she could come out now. She knelt in front of her and put a hand on her leg. "What's going on?" She asked, "What happened?"

Artemis looked up, sighing and kissing her daughter on the forehead. Rory had never seen her mother this stressed out before. "Where's Aunt Jade, and who was that man you were talking to?"

"That was Roy…" Artemis answered with a sigh. "He's Lian's father. Jade handed her to him last night and left… Just left."

"Where did she go?" Rory asked, brushing her fingers through Lian's hair.

"I don't know."

Rory stood up, picking Lian up and putting her on her lap before sitting on the couch. The tension still remained strong in the air. This was bad… she wasn't completely sure why, but it was bad…

"She's not coming back… is she?"

Artemis turned her body on the couch, pulling Rory into the gap of her legs and holding her tightly. Lian crawled up over her shoulder, a thumb attached to her mouth. All Artemis had ever wanted was for her family to have a good life. They had all learned what it was like to have a childhood with a parent you couldn't rely on, and it killed her to realize that Rory's lack of a father figure had been entirely her fault. Now Lian would suffer too. Everything was a mess, and when she didn't find anyone who she could blame it on, she just blamed it on herself.

She thought back to Roy, he loved Lian, there was no doubt in her mind. But everything today had ended so wrong… She shouldn't have been fighting with him when she knew that Rory would be coming home soon. She had always known in the back of her mind that someone would discover her secret… the whole reason that she left.

It was hard to think about Roy knowing her secret.

To think about him telling someone…

* * *

><p>Wally unlocked the door of his apartment, he had been working late that night and was well past ready to get a little bit of shut eye before the city needed saving. It was times like this that made him wish he was still a teenager, working alongside his Uncle Barry and able to take time off if he needed it. Balancing a full-time career along with fighting crime wasn't easy.<p>

He shut the door behind him, locking it and taking his jacket off. He kicked his sneakers into the hallway and flipped on the kitchen light, jumping out of his skin when he turned around. Roy stood against the wall, a serious glare on his face.

"Roy." Wally gasped, grasping his chest with his hand. "I appreciate the heart attack. What are you doing here?"

He hadn't heard from Roy in years, let alone had he been expecting to find him in the middle of his living room. "Not that it isn't nice to see you, but could you have called first?"

He opened the fridge, pulling out a Tupperware container and eating a spoonful of cold potatoes.

"I need you to do something for me." Roy said, not looking his old team mate in the eye. "I need you to go to Gotham and pick someone up for me."

Wally let out a quiet groan, "Right now? I just got home."

"I need you to pick up my daughter… from the babysitters…"

It was easier for Roy this way. He had promised Artemis that he wouldn't tell, and he wasn't. But he would make sure that the process of discovery moved forward.

Wally froze for a moment.

"Your daughter?" His lips turned up in delight, "Congrats. I didn't know you had a baby."

"Neither did I."

Silence…

"What do you need me for?"

"You can get there faster than me."

Wally sighed, "You got me there." He said. "Yeah, I can get her. What's her name?"

"Lian."

"Cute."

He went back into the refrigerator, not completely sure what he was looking for. "Do you mind if I eat first? I had to work through lunch."

Roy gave a silent nod, putting an addressed piece of paper on the counter.

"I should only be a minute," Wally said, "You can make yourself at home until I get back."

Another silent nod and Wally was gone.

Artemis was in the kitchen when the doorbell rang, glancing at the kids who sat in the living room watching cartoons.

"Rory, get the door." She called, turning off the sink water and drying her hands. "I'm going to grab the laundry from the basement." Rory got off of the couch, unlocking the door and opening it a crack until the chain lock halted her.

"Hello?" She said, looking out the crack at the adult red-head who stared back at her. He leaned to her level and smiled.

"Hi, I'm here to pick up Lian Harper." He said, "I'm a friend of Roy's."

Rory closed the door, removing the chain lock before opening it again. "Nice hair by the way." Wally said with a grin, brushing a hand through his own orange hair.

"Back at you." Rory giggled. "Mom!" She yelled, "There's some guy here to pick up Lian, he says that he's a friend of Roy's!" She turned back to Wally and smiled, laying over the arm of the couch and resting her chin on her palms. She could here Artemis's footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Who is it?" Artemis asked before looking up at the man in the living room. Shock hit her like a bullet as she jumped backward, almost dropping the basket of laundry. Her face turned pale and she found herself unable to speak for a moment. Her eyes darted to Rory, her mind trying to allow her mouth to tell her to go to her room.

"Artemis?" Wally said in shock.

"Wally?" She managed to get out.

Rory turned to her, confusion setting in on her face.

"Mom," She said, "What's going on?"

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! They're really helping me to want to move this forward. As a homework-ridden college student, you can expect to hear the most from me on the weekends. I'll try to get one more chapter in before Monday!**


	4. Part 3

"Artemis?" Wally said in shock.

"Wally?" She managed to get out.

Rory turned to her, confusion setting in on her face.

"Mom," She said, "What's going on?"

A large grin crossed Wally's face as he approached Artemis, giving her a friendly embrace.

"It's been years!" He said as he let her go. "What happened to you? It was like you dropped off the face of the earth!"

The paleness that had filled her face had begun developing a dark blush as she glanced over to Rory, who had picked Lian up off the floor and begun staring at the adults in confusion.

_He doesn't know… _She thought. She had never been so thankful for his denseness.

"I-" She started, "I resigned. I had personal reasons."

Wally looked back at Rory, "And you're a mother! Congratulations. I can't believe that it's been twelve years since I've seen you. It feels kind of weird to be all grown up now."

Artemis looked at the ground and nodded quietly.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Roy sent me to get Lian."

"Yeah, well… Remind me to kill him."

Wally's expression turned confused, the large elaborate smile leaving his face.

"What do you mean?" He asked, "What's the matter?"

"Rufina-"

"Go to my room." Rory finished, "I know." She got off the couch, taking Lian with her. Wally watched the back of the youths head as she walked away, flinching slightly when she turned around. "You know," She said, her face of freckles moving with her mouth. "I'm eleven and a half; I'm not a baby anymore."

"I am not arguing with you!" Artemis yelled. Lian started to cry. "Go. Now!"

At that moment, Wally's stomach dropped. He moved his eyes to the photos on the mantel. Her bright orange hair, her freckles, her large emerald eyes… Even her smile looked familiar.

Eleven years old…

Nine months of pregnancy…

Gone for twelve years…

Artemis had shame on her face, still unable to take her eyes off of the ground.

"I think you should go." She said.

"Arty-"

"Please!" She yelled. "Leave! If Roy wants Lian back, tell him to get her himself. Go! Now!"

With that, Wally was out the door.

"Shit." Artemis said as she collapsed on the couch. She felt like she could faint. This wasn't happening. This wasn't supposed to happen! Maybe if Rory had been an infant, but not now. It was too late, she was grown up, and that bonding period was over.

It was over.

It.

Was.

Too.

Late.

* * *

><p>Wally was still in shock as he entered his apartment. He had almost forgotten that he told Roy that he could stay there until he got back.<p>

He rested his elbows on the counter hard, almost hurting himself. As he set his forehead in his hands he wasn't sure if he was going to hyperventilate, or faint. His heart was pounding and his mind had gone blank.

Roy sat on the couch, his eyes silently looking out the window at the night sky.

"What the hell is going on!" Wally yelled, sitting down angrily and gripping his hair in his fists. "What just happened?"

Roy was silent for a moment. His face showed no emotion, but inside he couldn't help but wonder if he had done the right thing.

"Welcome to the 'Holy shit, I'm a daddy' club." He said.

**A/N: I'm really sorry for how short this chapter is… I'm sick as hell and wasn't really sure if I wanted to write today or not. I would have been able to make it longer, but I really wanted to end it with that last line, it just seemed like such a good place!**


	5. Part 4

**Twelve years ago**

_ Artemis lay in an unoccupied bedroom of Mount Justice, her arms folded behind her head. Missions had never been easy, but as they grew up, they were getting more dangerous. She had watched her friends come face-to-face with death more times than she wanted to remember, and she was finding herself making more and more mental reminders that she was stronger than this. _

_She had been out of it lately… She had been distracted and moody. She hadn't even heard the creak of the opening bedroom door until she felt the weight shift on the bed. _

_ "You know I'm okay, right?" Wally said, his hand touching her arm. They had been looking in on a trade of illegal weapons, hiding in the woods waiting for the boat to show up._

_The tree branch cracked, and then the shots fired. A sprinkler of blood had shot out of Wally's shoulder as he hit the ground screaming out in pain._

_ "The bullet just skimmed my shoulder," The red head said rubbing her arm. "Seriously, I'm fine. It's not like something like this hasn't happened in the past. We've been shot at before." He lay down next to her, brushing a thumb against her cheek. _

_Artemis tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach as he kissed her forehead, wrapping his arms around her tightly. _

_ "I'm fine." She said. She wasn't… The missions, the fighting, the friendships, the sex… It was all becoming too much for her. _

_She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him on the mouth. Artemis didn't open up to people, but she needed the comfort right now. He kissed her back, brushing his fingers through her ponytail and the cress of her back. _

_They parted for a moment._

_ "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked. He wore worry on his face. The closer they became, the harder it seemed to be to ignore his feelings for her. This was the girl who he had once despised. Now it was becoming more and more difficult to not be able to embrace her in public. To hold her… kiss her… love her._

_Artemis didn't look him in the eye. She turned her head on the pillow, her eyes meeting the wall._

_ "Stop talking…" Was all she said._

_That was the last time they made love before she left. The nausea and pain in her breasts had begun about two months later. Pregnancy hadn't even crossed her mind when she went to the doctor, but the results of her blood test had told her otherwise._

_ "You're expecting." The nurse had told her over the phone._

_ "Expecting what?"_

_ "A baby, dear. You're pregnant."_

_She would have fainted had she not been sitting down. She wasn't ready for this yet. She didn't know if she would have ever been ready for this. This was more than just an unplanned pregnancy; fifty percent of one of her teammates was now growing inside of her._

_To make matters worse it was fifty percent of Wally!_

_She had called her mother into the bedroom right after hanging the phone up. Then she put her head in her lap and cried. She knew that he mother would be there for her, but this wasn't her problem, it was Artemis's. _

_She could move out. Get an apartment close to home and get a job. She would resign from the team tomorrow morning, packing her things up and dropping off the face of the earth. She would start saving up money right away and see how much she could put away before the birth._

_She wouldn't tell Wally about the baby. He had a life to live, a team to be a part of, and a city to help save. He didn't need another worry under his belt._

_The first time that Rory kicked, Artemis had practically choked on a spoonful of cereal, and for another month or two of the pregnancy the movement had continued to startle her every time. Then as the baby continued to grow the kicking had started to hurt._

_ "My rib cage is not your personal dance floor!" She would yell at her stomach. _

_She thought about Wally trying not to laugh at her pain. He would probably be terrified of her during the pregnancy. After all, she had chewed his head off enough times in the past without the added hormones._

_She had been looking at herself in the bathroom mirror when her water broke, thinking about how unattractive she looked at a side view and whether or not her belly button would ever look the same. The labor lasted about twelve hours._

_ "I swear!" She had screamed at the doctor, "If I ever hear a man complain about pain again I'll kill him with my own bare hands!"_

_If Wally had been there she would have decapitated him for doing this to her._

_She didn't cry like some women do when they handed her the red headed bundle for the first time. She felt proud of herself… She had just survived pushing seven pounds of flesh and skeleton out of an area that didn't normally eject solids. _

_Her daughter gripped her finger tightly, cooing to herself as she squirmed to get comfortable. She didn't even think about Wally that day until the nurse started asking her questions about the birth certificate. _

_She gave Rufina her last name, leaving the name of father line blank._

_He didn't need to know…_

**Present**

Wally West had found himself at Mount Justice for the first time in years. Memories of his teenage years flooding back into his head. He stood in an abandoned room where he used to keep things that he took back from missions. He had called it his souvenir room; the rest of the team had called it his hoarding room.

He took a child's Sippy cup off of the dust covered shelf. He had gotten it from a little boy during the split of dimensions when he was fifteen.

_I had a baby…_ He thought to himself. Why would Artemis not want him to know? How was he supposed to cradle or rock to sleep an eleven year old? He had missed his opportunity to hold her, to cuddle her, to just be a daddy…

Wally jumped at the sound of another being in the room.

"Who's there?" He called, putting the cup back on the shelf. In the doorway, Nightwing stared back at him, his face with about as much emotion as Batman's. Wally smirked.

"You startled me." He said. That seemed to be everyone's goal lately.

"I saw on one of the computers that someone was in here."

"Why am I not surprised that you still watch the monitor at this place?"

"What are you doing here?" Nightwing asked. Short, straight, and to the point. Just like always.

Wally was quiet for a moment.

"I ran into Artemis, D." He said. "It just… It brought back a lot of old memories. I wanted to check them out again. Can you believe that the League let us do this?" He smiled, "We were kids."

"Things have surprised me more. Why would running into Artemis make you want to come back here? It's not like she lived here with Conner and Meg."

"We spent a lot of time together here. You were really the only one who I ever hung out with outside of the mountain." Wally said, still wearing a small, hurt looking grin. "It would be nice to get everyone together again… You know?"

Nightwing was silent for a moment, and then he took a step toward his old friend, taking his black mask off. His blue eyes were locked in a stair at Wally. Something wasn't right.

"Wally," He asked. "What's wrong with you?"

It was then that he stopped being Nightwing, and became Dick Grayson again. His friend, who cared and was worried about him, "Once again, why are you here? What's going on?"

Wally sighed.

"Artemis and I had started getting together when we were eighteen." He said. "If you know what I mean."

"And?"

A few minutes of silence went by. The situation would be so different if their daughter was still a baby… Congratulations would be in order, or smoking cigars in the basement. This situation was so different. How was he supposed to react? To feel?

"She had my daughter…" He let out. "She never told me. How could she not tell me? What did I do to deserve that?"

Now it was Dick's turn to not know what to say. It was a little bit late for a baby gift.

"Have you met her?" He asked.

"Only once… But I didn't know she was mine. I didn't even know that she was Arty's at first. I went over there to pick up Roy's daughter- cutest little thing by the way, you should meet her- from what I was told was the babysitters house."

"Have you tried going back?"

"I'm still in a little bit of shock right now…" He began picking other objects up off of the shelf, eyeing them and then putting them back. It was the closest distraction from reality that he could find. "I mean, how would you react?"

"I would go back. If that didn't work, I would go back again. If we took 'no' for an answer from villains, where do you think we'd be right now?"

"This isn't exactly a case of crime fighting…"

Dick sighed, walking up to Wally and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"But to me, it still seems like a mission." He said.

**A/N: Sorry for all the notes lately… I just want to take this time to brag about how proud I am of this chapter. It's probably my favorite so far. I also have to answer a question.**

**Z dream: I'm not sure what you mean by not understanding the name Rufina, but I'll try to explain the best I can. Rufina is Rory's full name. Like how Wallace is Wally's full name. She prefers Rory though. I hope this helps. Sorry for any confusion!**


	6. Part 5

Artemis could feel her heart rate increasing in her chest. Her stomach was lodged in her throat and she felt like she couldn't breathe. This wasn't supposed to happen… Not now. What was she supposed to tell her daughter? Sorry about the wait, that was your father at the door?

She sighed, massaging her temples and trying to think about what to do next. What if he came back? Worse, what if he came back when she wasn't home? She could leave Rory at her mom's house again. Dealing with her daughter complaining about finally being old enough to stay home alone would be worth whatever would happen if Wally came back to find her.

"Mom,"

Artemis pulled her head up, startled. Rory looked down at her, still holding Lian. Her face looked confused, but not too bothered. She knew that her mother had ties with heroes and was no longer too concerned about unknown people coming to their house. "Who was that guy?" Her expression began turning serious as she saw the worry in Artemis's face. "Is everything alright?" She asked.

"I'm not sure…" The fear-faced blonde answered truthfully. She needed time to think about what to do. She had seen his facial expression when he looked at their daughter, all of the realization making its way into his eyes.

He didn't look angry… He looked more confused, stunned, amazed. How could she blame him? She had hidden his daughter from him for eleven years.

She put a hand on Rory's shoulder, looking into her emerald colored eyes. It had been awhile since she noticed how much she looked like him, I mean _really_ noticed it. Red hair and freckles were obvious; they were always the first things that anyone pointed out about her. But Artemis noticed other things… the shape of her jaw, the cowlick in her hair. These were the reasons that she could never see her old friends again. There would be no pawning Rory off as another man's child. She looked just like him.

Artemis tried to smile, taking baby Lian out of Rory's arms. "How about you get ready for bed." She said quietly, playing with the baby girl's hair. "You have school tomorrow."

"Fine." Rory answered, rolling her eyes. She kissed her mother on the cheek, walking back into her bedroom and shutting the door behind her.

Artemis curled up on the couch, Lian laying down on her stomach to stomach.

"What am I going to do?" She asked out loud, rubbing her hand on the baby's back. This had not been how she wanted this week to turn out. Jade was gone, leaving Lian in the care of Roy, who Artemis didn't see fit to take care of her. She now felt like she had two children to take care of.

She sighed, looking up at the ceiling. She got off of the couch and set Lian in a cradle that sat in the living room and switched the baby monitor on.

After a moment of silence, a ruffle of leaves came from outside, startling her slightly.

"Hello?" She said quietly, tiptoeing to the doorway. She flipped the porch light on, opening the door a crack.

Roy stood in front of her, his serious expression molded to his face like a mask. Artemis unlocked the chain and stepped outside, shutting the door quietly behind her. After glaring at him for a moment, she lifted an arm up, slapping him across the face.

"My situation was none of your business!" She attempted to yell quietly. "I told you flat out not to tell him!"

"I didn't." Roy said blankly.

"You sent him to my house to pick your daughter up. Then he met my daughter, who I told you I did not want him to meet. We are doing fine on our own. I don't need you or him in my life!"

"Well you currently have _both_ of our _children_ in your life so I suggest that you get used to it!"

He grabbed her by both arms, causing her to jump backward.

"You don't deserve that little girl…" She said. The yelling had stopped, being replaced by a voice that seemed to be filled with hurt. "Jade doesn't either…"

"And you apparently also don't feel like Wally deserves the little girl who you conceived with him twelve years ago."

Artemis put a hand to her forehead, sighing in stress.

"I don't see why you care." She said. "My niece is your business, I'll give you that, but my daughter does not concern you."

"I want to know why you kept her hidden."

"We were young! I was eighteen years old, and I was pregnant with the child of my team mate. We weren't in a relationship, or together in any way."

"If that was the case, she wouldn't have been conceived in the first place."

Artemis stopped… pausing for a moment in an attempt to decide what to say next. She looked out to the distance, losing as much emotion in her voice as she could.

"Did you love Jade?" She asked.

Silence…

"I loved the idea of her…"

She nodded. She had never really felt like she loved Wally. There had been an infatuation at times. She had gotten butterflies in her stomach when he kissed her. She had enjoyed the process of making love, but she had not truly loved him.

Then Rory was born.

She had looked into her eyes for the first time, and she had seen love. Real love… Love that was a part of her, and a part of someone else. Then she raised both of those parts by herself.

Artemis jumped back into reality.

"I don't want to deal with you right now." She said. "I put Lian to bed; I don't want to wake her up."

"I'm not asking you to deal with me." Roy said, turning his head in the direction of the front of her house. "I'm asking you to deal with him."

She jumped backward at the sight of Wally staring at her. Had she just not seen him, or had he honestly been hiding behind her house for the past ten minutes?

He approached her.

She had never seen him look so serious before… This was her team mate who had collected action figures of himself. Who she had once caught seducing himself in a mirror.

Now his eyes watched her like she was the worst villain that they had ever come across. Like she had killed someone who he had loved…

"I want to meet my daughter." He said.


	7. Part 6

**A/N: Wow… I don't think I've done one of these in the beginning of the chapter before…**

**Hey guys! Sorry about the wait. (Yes, one day is a wait for me), I'm a little behind on my homework and have been trying to work on my editing on some of my stories. I go back and re-read it and I feel like it looks a bit choppy… so I've been a little OCD about my writing skill lately. I would like to take this time to give a few people some shout outs!**

**Opaul: Seriously ? We learned about genetics when I was in middle school so I don't have much of a memory of them. All I know is that there's a little cluster of gingers in my family who all inherited the gene from their mothers side of the family. Absolutely no one other than her had red hair in my family, and we're only related through marriage. So I guess that I just assumed… Seriously, absolutely no red hair in my family, then they all start popping up like-**

**I'm not finishing that sentence… Anywho, thanks for the little science fact. ^^**

**Curiousreader: As I had her point out, Artemis sees the feelings that she had as more of an infatuation than actual love. And as we've all learned from watching and reading, she's not too fond of sharing any type of emotion. **

**As for your other question… I never really thought about what her job would be… So I can just leave that up to your imagination.**

**Oh, and the statement "I loved the idea of her" came from Roy, not Artemis. But you probably just misread it.**

**Fixati0ns: I am not a man -.- *Plays with boobs***

**And now that I read back on some of the responses I give, I'm probably going to have a hard time convincing you that I'm in college too… **

* * *

><p>Artemis backed away until she felt her back pressing against the door. She had never fully thought about what she would do if this situation were to arise. Yes, she admitted, it had been partially his problem during the pregnancy, but she had been young and stupid. At this point in time, Rory really was not his concern. She didn't need people coming in and out of her life.<p>

"I never said she was yours…" Artemis said with a stutter.

"You didn't need to…"

His eyes showed genuine hurt. He cared, which she had never for a second doubted, but now wasn't a good time. She could try lying to him, even though she had already admitted the truth to Roy.

"How many people know?" She asked. The number of people who knew was one of her biggest worries. The more people who found out, the greater a chance of Rory being in danger. Artemis had been on the bad side of more than one criminal during her time as a hero, and if they found out that she had a daughter, they could use her as a weakness. In her mind, part of her knew that was the reason her sister had fled… leaving the care of her little girl in the hands of her father. The bad side of the law wasn't a safe situation to have a child in.

"I only told Dick…" He let out a painfully fragile sounding sigh. "Arty…" Wally said quietly, taking a few steps toward her. "Please… Let me meet her."

"I just can't do that…" Artemis responded, not finding herself able to look the red head in the eye. "She's asleep, and she has school in the morning. This just isn't a very good time."

"Then tell me what is. I could come back on the weekend, that way we wouldn't have to worry about-"

"It will _never_ be a good time." She interrupted. "Don't you get it? We're not talking about a baby here! Rory is eleven years old; she doesn't need this kind of drama in her life!" She turned around, placing her forehead on the cool surface of the front door. "And what business did you have telling Dick? This has nothing to do with anyone other than you and me."

"Well excuse me for needing someone to talk to after getting the biggest shock of my life."

He took a step closer, touching a hand to her shoulder. Artemis flinched, turning her head to face him.

"Please…" Wally said, "You don't even need to let me talk to her right away. You don't have to tell her who I am. Just let me look at her… Let me see her…"

She sighed, her quivering hand taking hold of the doorknob.

"Come in." She said, her voice cracking slightly. "The girls are both asleep…"

They followed her into the house, an awkward silence passing between them. Lian slept in the cradle, breathing deeply in a quiet snore. She cooed slightly at the sound of the footsteps entering the living room.

Roy approached the sleeping baby, rocking the cradle gently. Wally followed Artemis, not making a sound as she opened the door to her daughters room a crack. A gentle streak of light covered part of her face. Her eyes squeezed together slightly tighter before going back to normal, and she gave a light moan as her body turned in the covers.

Wally stared at her. No words were going through his head, he didn't know whether he should smile, cry, or just stare. He decided on the third option. She was so beautiful, and she was his.

She was his daughter.

He had a little girl…

"What's her name?" He asked after a few moments. Even as he spoke to Artemis he couldn't take his eyes off of the sleeping child. It was like he had been hypnotized.

"Rufina." Artemis said. "She usually just goes by Rory."

"Rory." He repeated. It was such a pretty name.

Rory…

* * *

><p><strong>I know it's been a long wait for such a short chapter… I'm just really distracted right now. I'll try very hard to get you a nice long chapter as soon as I can!<strong>


	8. Part 7

Artemis touched Wally's shoulder, gently pushing him out of the way and shutting the door.

"I don't want to wake her up." She said quietly. "I would appreciate it if you and Roy would leave… It's getting late."

The red head nodded, his expression still giving an appearance of shock. This had been a lot to take in, and in very little time.

"I just need to know," He said. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant? I mean, you know that I would have been there."

"Actually, I didn't know that." Artemis answered. "We're grown up now, but we had only been teenagers. There was no way for me to know for sure that it would work out."

"So you just left? You took her from me before she was even born. I never even got to hold her."

Artemis shushed him, turning her head to Lian's cradle. Roy had picked her up, now holding her in a bundle in his arms. They really were cute as father and daughter…

"I did what was best for her. I stopped being a hero and I became a mother. Do you think that I wanted to give all of that up?"

"You didn't do what was best for her; you just did what was easiest for you." Wally looked angry. "You were afraid to deal with me and the rest of the team, so you chose not to."

"That's not true!"

She hadn't realized that she had started yelling until she heard the creek of the opening bedroom door. She jumped back at the noise, blushing as Rory walked into the living room. She walked up to her and brushed a hand down her cheek, trying to smile.

"I'm sorry I woke you, honey." She said. "Go back to bed, adults are talking right now."

Rory looked at Wally, rubbing her eyes.

"Were you just in my room?" She asked him. "I thought I dreamt that."

Wally tried to approach the little girl closer, only halting when he caught the glare in Artemis's eye.

"Uh… yeah..." He stuttered. "It's just that, I thought you looked familiar, so I wanted to get a second look at you. You look a lot like my mom; you're grandma- I mean, my grandma, too."

Artemis's glare was worse than Batman's, and her blush had started to darken.

"Rory," She said sternly, "Please go back to bed, you have school in the morning."

Rory shrugged, rolling her eyes and going back into her bedroom.

"Sorry…" Wally said, "I didn't mean to-"

"Like I said," Artemis interrupted, "I think it's best that you go home. I really can't deal with you right now."

Wally sighed, embracing Artemis lightly. She chose not to hug him back.

"Thank you." He said. "For letting me meet our daughter."

It was strange for Artemis to hear her referred to as _their _daughter. For Rory's entire life she had been a single parent.

"Wait here for a minute…" She said, pushing her way out of his arms. She walked into the hallway, opening a closet and pulling a photo album out. She opened the cover and removed a photo, putting the album back and walking back into the living room. "Here." She said handing it to him.

The photo had been taken at the hospital the day that Rory had been born. A close up of her face, her body swaddled in a light pink blanket. Her emerald eyes were open as wide as they could be, looking around the room in what appeared to be either shock or confusion. Her full head of orange hair looked unusual on her newborn body, sticking up at all angles.

Wally smirked, looking the photo over carefully. The baby picture made him feel proud, giving him a real joy of realizing that he helped to create something.

"Thank you." He said.

* * *

><p>When Wally got home that night, he sat on the couch to stare at the picture. He couldn't help but wonder what Artemis had been like pregnant. It was hard to imagine her with a nine month belly, especially on her small frame.<p>

He tried to picture her changing a diaper, or getting up at three in the morning to nurse. Then he would look at the picture again. He had missed so much of her life, and she didn't even know that he was her father. When she had woken up during their argument it had killed him to know that he couldn't run to her side and embrace her.

She could be what brought their old team back together.

They had grown up and parted ways; they all had their own cities to look after and their own lives to live. Most of them hadn't seen each other in years. Maybe the thought of them all getting back together was a little bit farfetched, but it would still be nice to just grab a cup of coffee as a team at some point.

Wally had never before thought about his old team mates having children. He knew that Nightwing was childless, and Roy had Lian.

He started to wonder if Conner and M'gann were still together, or if she was still as beautiful as he remembered. Could two different species have a baby? Probably not… Anyway, that was probably a good thing. He had seen Conner go insane in anger when he ran out of toothpaste. He couldn't imagine him with a kid.

Of course, last week he couldn't imagine himself with a kid either.

_I wonder what they'll think about the situation… _He thought to himself. He and Artemis had kept what was going on between them a secret, as far as the rest of the team had known they had never stopped hating each other. _Then again, maybe they won't be that surprised…_ He remembered Dick poking fun at him about having a crush on Arty, something that he had completely denied throughout the entire time they were on a team together.

He had loved her… He knew that she hadn't felt the same way, and probably never will, but he really had loved her… and it had killed him to wait for her to come back to him, then it had killed him even more when he had begun to realize that she never would.

The immature jokester inside of him had never been an act, but at the same time, Artemis had finally allowed him to talk about his past.

They shared secrets while the other listened. Even if they had never gotten together as a real couple, it was still safe to say that they had become very good friends within that last year.

She had broken his heart, and the time had finally come where that might be able to change.

Just maybe…

* * *

><p>Artemis shook her head, walking to her own bedroom. She placed her hand on the doorknob of Rory's room, opening it a crack to make sure that she had gone back to bed.<p>

Both girls jumped back startled, neither expecting to see the other.

Rory's eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open slightly, her face containing a very similar expression to the one that she had in the baby picture.

Artemis felt her stomach drop, thinking back on what had happened right before Wally had left.

"Thank you for letting me meet our daughter." He had said.

And their daughter had stood at the door listening…

"Rory!" Artemis said in shock and worry, "Let me explain!"

But there was no explaining,

Because in less than a second, Rory was gone, Leaving behind nothing but the feel of wind off of her body as she sped out of the house.

Shit…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yay! We're finally getting close to the old team getting back together! Did that take forever or what?**

**K, here's the deal: I am an idiot. Now that I have fully admitted that, will someone please explain to this idiot what a spitfire is...?**


	9. Part 8

Wally had barely stepped into his house when the phone started ringing.

"Rory's gone." Artemis said in a panic. She sounded like she was about to hyperventilate.

"What?" He responded confused. "Wait… how did you get my number?"

God he was an idiot…

"Did you not hear me? Our daughter is _missing_!"

"What the hell are you talking about? What happened, where did she go?"

"She overheard us talking and she ran away."

Wally's head was spinning. "Talking about what?"

"Good god will you grow a brain? She knows that you're her father. She heard us talking about it!" It was hard for Artemis to concentrate, her mind was in about five places at once, and she didn't have time to explain the obvious right now. "I need you to come back over. You have to help me find her."

"You have no idea where she is? How far could she have gotten?"

Artemis sighed in anger and worry, sitting on a counter stool.

"Farther than you think…"

"She had gotten out of bed less than half an hour ago, she couldn't have gone that far."

Idiot…

"You have no idea." Artemis said, "Wally, Rory inherited more from you than just red hair."

"What are you talking about?"

"_Please_." She said irritated, "Just get over here and stop arguing with me!" Her hands were shaking as she tried holding the phone steady.

Wally was still confused… He hadn't been home for more than five minutes, how far could she have possibly gotten in five minutes?

_Rory inherited more from you than just red hair._ Artemis had said to him. What did that mean? Was she a speedster?

Did genetics work that way? He may have been a scientist, but he didn't specialize in metahumans, nor did he really know any who had children.

Dinah had inherited her powers from her mother, right?

His head was spinning. Everything within the past twenty four hours seemed to all be happening at once. This morning when he had gone to work he had been childless, hadn't seen any members of his old team in years, and had no reason to worry about anyone outside of his own city. Suddenly everything was different, and after today, nothing was ever going to be the same again.

"I'll be right over." Wally said. He attempted to get to Artemis's house before she even hung up the phone, being off by what hardly qualified as a second.

"Now," He tried to say calmly. "Tell me what's going on."

Artemis was breathing heavily, trying unsuccessfully to calm herself down.

"You idiot!" She yelled, "I already told you what's going on! Rory ran away! She heard you refer to her as _our_ daughter!"

She slammed her hands on the counter, flinching in pain. For once, she was actually relieved that Roy had taken the baby home with him (without permission, mind you). There was too much on her mind. She couldn't remember the last time she was this angry. "This is all your fault!" She yelled, pulling herself to her feet. "I told you to stay out of it!"

"Yet you call me immediately…"

Artemis paused. When they were kids their arguments would last days, both of them trying to get in the last snobby comeback, but she had no comeback for this.

"Just please help me find her…" She let out quietly.

Rory was sitting on a park bench in the next city, unsure of what she was supposed to think on what she had heard.

Who was that man?

Was he really her father?

Was he a superhero?

She brushed droplets of sweat off of her forehead, resting her chin in the palms of her hands and staring at the ground. She used to come to this park when her powers had first started developing. It was a straight line from home so she wouldn't get lost, but it was far enough away for her to feel like she was practicing, just like a real superhero.

It had been her dream to be a real superhero, working alongside the League, taking down the bad guys, signing autographs and getting her face put on the cover of a comic book. How did she expect to handle the drama of being a hero if she couldn't even handle this?

_I should go back… _She thought to herself.

But she couldn't do it… Not yet. She still needed time to think about what had just happened. This was all new to her. Artemis was overprotective, never telling her anything about her life as a hero, never telling her anything about her father. As she got older she had stopped asking about him all together, she knew it was pointless.

It wasn't as though her life was that unusual (ignoring the whole metahuman daughter of superheroes thing), in fact, compared to some of the kids in her class she felt that she was pretty well off. Her mother had been a teenager when she was born, but she had gotten plenty of support from her grandmother. She knew very little about her grandfather, he was another man in her life who Artemis refused to talk about, but that was alright.

Her life was alright…

Not great, but alright.

Rory sighed, wishing that she had her old baby blanket with her. She wanted something to hold, something to comfort her. No matter what happened, she would hold the tears back.

After all, heroes didn't cry.

"Do you know of any places that she likes to go?" Wally asked, "Museums, parks, beaches?"

"Gotham doesn't really have a lot of that stuff." Artemis responded. "It isn't the safest place in the world for a kid to be wandering around in."

She pulled a map out of a kitchen drawer, laying in out flat on the counter and locating her house. She circled it with a pen.

"I doubt she would want to go too far given the circumstances, she would probably just want to be alone, somewhere far away enough where it would take me awhile to reach her." She made a circle connecting all of the cities outside Gotham, marking any parks, fields, or valleys with X's. "She has to be in one of these areas."

Wally looked at the map for a moment before bringing his eyes back to Artemis's.

"None of these areas are close enough for anyone to get in five minutes." He said, his heart just about pounding out of his chest. "When you said before… that she inherited more from me that just red hair… did you mean-"

"You know what I meant. But it's not important now. All that's important is getting Rory home safely. I want you to check the East area first, I'll check West. If we don't find anything, then you check North and I'll check South, just to make sure we didn't miss any places."

Wally nodded, not waiting for Artemis to grab her keys before he was out the door. He would be done with his search before she even got to the next town. He could check the entire area on the map by himself. He could find Rory, and then he could talk to her, explain to her that he didn't know that she was born.

Then he could hug her,

And they could run back together…

**A/N: I am so, so, so, so, so sorry for the wait! I usually write at night, but I've just been feeling exhausted. Not to mention the fact that I've had some major writers block. Anyway, I hope that this chapter is worth the wait, because I myself am not as fond of it as I thought I would be… Enjoy.**


	10. Part 9

"You're mother was right, you didn't go very far."

Rory looked up from the swing that she was sitting on, her eyes meeting those of The Flash, staring back at her live and in costume.

"What did she do, call the Justice League to find me?" Rory said, looking back at her feet. She had always wanted to meet members of the League, but it was a bit hard for her to be happy right now.

"Not exactly." Wally said, sitting in the swing next to her. "Just me."

"So, is my mom even looking for me?"

"Of course she is. Just in a different city." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Anything that you want to talk about?"

He smiled when she looked at him, trying hard to make her more comfortable. Rory couldn't help but produce a tiny smirk back. After all, she was actually talking to a League member.

"Did you know my mom when she was a hero?" She asked, turning the swing to face him. She didn't want to talk about everything that had just happened.

"Sure did." Wally said with a chuckle. "Fought with her like a sister most of the time. We were friends though."

Rory nodded. Something about him seemed familiar… You know, other than the pictures in the hundreds of comics that she owned. She recognized his voice.

"Can you tell me anything about her past? She won't talk about it."

"Well… you're mom has the right to keep that a secret. There's a reason that heroes have secret identities. Coming out about it could be dangerous not only for her, but for you too."

She sighed, "I understand, I guess…" She mumbled.

"So," Wally started, "Do you mind telling me why you ran away from home?"

"It's kind of complicated…" Rory said. "I grew up without a dad, and I turned out fine, but that doesn't mean that I never wondered about who mine was." Her eyes were on her feet again. Was she seriously talking to a League member about her family problems? Did superheroes do personal therapy sessions now? "I've asked about my dad so many times… After years of getting no answers I was actually starting to assume that he was dead. How am I supposed to feel about him just showing up at our house? It isn't even a situation where he ditched during the pregnancy… My mom was the one who ditched. She never even told him. I don't have a dad because my mom decided that she didn't want me to have one."

Wally nodded. This was the first time that he had really heard the whole story.

"Now the real question is whether or not you want a father in your life." He said. "What do you think?"

It took Rory a moment to respond.

"I don't know." She said. "I don't _not_ want one. It's just kind of awkward."

She looked at him again, "Do you know who my dad is?" She asked. "A tall red-headed man. I don't know his name."

"Yes. I know him very well." Wally answered, smiling at her. "You know, it's pretty late. Don't you think that you should be getting home?"

Rory sighed, spinning herself around in the swing.

"I don't know… I don't really want to go back yet…" She said as she released it, twirling back around. "How'd you know my parents?" She asked.

"Let's just say they were on the same team."

He wanted to hug her. Would that be weird in costume?

"What's my dad like?"

"Let's just say that there were many debates over whether or not he was funny."

Rory chuckled, causing Wally to giggle. He knew he was funny! "I like to think that he was a good guy," He continued. "Maybe not the most serious person in the world, but always himself."

"I'd like to meet him…"

"He'd like to meet you too."

"My mom would freak."

"There isn't a lot she can do about it." Wally said. "You have the right to meet him if you want to."

Rory laughed out loud, "That's what you think." She said. "I mean, I know that you knew my mom, but you don't know her like I do. If she doesn't want me to do something, I have no say in the matter. I wasn't ever even allowed to go trick-or-treating outside of the kid's museum. Too dangerous."

Wally smiled at the thought of Artemis taking a little kid trick-or-treating.

"Well," He said, "Gotham isn't exactly the safest city in the world."

"Isn't that what Batman is supposed to be for?"

Wally laughed. "You got me there." He said.

Rory had never really seen Batman in real life. There would be a silhouette every so often, but the man was an expert at blending in. Maybe if Artemis had opened the blinds every once in awhile she would be able to watch him beat up a pick pocket in an alleyway.

"You know, we really should get you home." Wally said. "Your mother is really worried about you."

"Maybe she should have thought about that before hiding half of my life from me."

Wally took her hand, pulling her up from the swing.

"How about we have a race?" He said with a smile. "I'll slow down for you."

"No going easy on me. I need the practice."

Wally laughed. "I'll be at your house in about a quarter of a second if I don't go easy on you." He said rubbing his hand on her head. He wanted so badly to unmask himself, knowing that he couldn't do it in public.

"Fine…" She said. "Just not too easy. If you lose, I'll know that you did it on purpose."

* * *

><p>Wally had called Artemis before they departed; she wouldn't be home for another twenty minutes though. It wasn't as though he thought that he needed her permission to reveal his identity to his daughter, but it would be nice to have it.<p>

"I should probably wait until my mom gets home before I go to bed. If I don't she'll wake me up, so I'll get yelled at either way."

Wally sighed deeply, kneeling down to Rory's level.

"Do you know who I am?" He asked her.

She scrunched her face in confusion.

"Um, yeah. You're The Flash, duh."

He put his hand on her cheek, "My name is Wally West." He said. "Before you were born, your mother and I were very unique friends."

"Unique how?"

"Well…" Wally said with a slight chuckle, "We kind of hated each other at first. I was immature and, if I do say so myself, funny. You're mother was a seventy year old woman trapped in the body of a teenager, and had no sense of humor."

Rory laughed. "Is this going anywhere?"

"We were different alone than we were with the rest of the team. Alone, we were friends. We talked about our lives, our pasts… We were able to really open up to each other and be ourselves. I was never much of a private person, but your mother was, and I was happy to listen."

Wally paused for a moment. Rory seemed completely oblivious of where he was going with this story.

"I loved your mother very much…" He continued. "I could never tell if she felt the same way… Then one day, she just left the team. We all kept expecting her to come back some day, but as the years went by, we knew that it wasn't going to happen."

He pulled his mask down, taking Rory's hands. "Rory, I'm going to ask you again… Do you know who I am?"

Tears were forming in the young girls eyes, and she had to remind herself that superheroes didn't cry.

"Can I hug you?" Wally asked, still holding her hand tightly. When she nodded, he pulled her close to him, finally wrapping his arms around his little girl… "I know that I don't know you very well, but you need to know that I love you very much."

She rested her head against his shoulder, still not completely sure how she was supposed to feel about the situation. When she was a little kid, all that she ever wanted was a father. Now she had no understanding of how she was supposed to deal with having one.

She pulled away for a moment, looking Wally in the eyes. After a second, a tiny grin found its way to her face.

"Can I meet the rest of your old team?"


	11. Part 10

Artemis opened the door to her house, taking a brief moment to sigh in relief before rushing to her daughter's side and embracing her tightly.

"Rufina, for goodness sake, what the hell were you thinking!" She yelled as she hugged her, hardly even noticing Wally's presence. She took her head by the cheeks and forced their eyes together. "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?"

Rory pulled away, her eyes meeting the floor in shame. She looked hurt… She had the right to be.

"What's _your_ excuse?" She asked, now looking at her mother in anger.

"What?"

"What's your excuse for running away? How is what I did any different than what you did?"

"You're eleven years old, that's how."

Rory snorted stubbornly. "Eleven and a half." She said. "Almost twelve. I'm not some little kid who you can boss around anymore."

Wally put a hand on the fiery red-heads shoulder, trying to calm her down without speaking. He couldn't deny that he was a little bit afraid of Artemis when she yelled.

"How could you deny me a real family?" The youth yelled. "Were you ashamed of me? I mean, I know I wasn't planned, but was I really such a mistake that you hid me away from everything I could have had?"

Artemis didn't say anything for a moment… Rory was right; she had denied her the only thing that she had ever needed… A real father.

After a moment of hesitation, she wrapped her arms around her little girl, pulling her into a tight hug.

"I'm an idiot…" She said. "I was so scared when I found out that I was having you, even if I would never admit it. I had no idea what I was doing, no idea what I would tell people…"

She held her tighter. "But you were not a mistake. You were the greatest thing that ever happened to me."

Wally sighed as he watched the mother and daughter hold each other. He had never seen Artemis express this kind of emotion. Even to him she had never really fully let herself out.

Artemis looked at him, still not quite ready to let Rory out of her arms.

"Thank you…" She said. "For finding her…" She stood up, taking Rory by the hand and pulling her to her feet. "Rufina… I know that it's a late introduction, but I feel you have the right to meet someone."

"We've already met." Rory said with a tiny smirk.

Artemis attempted to give Wally a glair with very little success. He really should have waited for her to come home… Nevertheless, it was hard not to smile when Wally bent down to hug their daughter, kissing her on the head.

"I'd really like my family to meet her…" He said.

"And the Justice League!" Rory made sure to chime in. Well… She sure seemed to be over the shock.

"I'm just not sure…" Artemis said. "I went so out of my way to keep all of that away from her."

"I can't help who my uncle is." Wally said. "I can't just hide her from my family… I know that they'd be happy. Well… After the few minutes of muted shock at least."

"It's not your family that concerns me…" Artemis said. "It's the rest of what she wants. Her meeting the League just doesn't seem like a good idea to me."

"What about just meeting out old team?" Wally asked. "I mean, it might be nice to have a little reunion. Most of us haven't seen each other in years."

"I just don't know…"

Wally took Artemis's hand, giving her a small smile. "It'll be alright." He said. "I promise."

Now it was Artemis who couldn't help but grin.

"Last time you said that, I gave birth nine months later."

"T.M.I!" Rory yelled, sticking her fingers in her ears. "Birthed one is still in the room, and birthed one knows where babies come from!"

Wally burst out laughing, letting out a small snort.

"Okay, that's one thing I'm a little thankful I missed." He said. He looked at Artemis again, trying to hold back a few leftover giggles. Now this was the Wally that she remembered. "A reunion wouldn't hurt," He said. "Besides, you can't tell me that you never wondered what everyone's been up to."

Artemis sighed, giving a little nod. Maybe catching up to the old team wouldn't hurt… It was always worth a shot.

**A/N. Sorry about the short chapter, but I need some help with the order of the next ones. I'm thinking that I'm going to have Wally introduce Rory to his family first, then have a little team reunion, but I could also do a reverse order, or I could combine the chapters. Any opinions would be great.**

**Horray! New (English) episode tomorrow! *looks at clock* er… today. I need to stop staying up so late…**


	12. Part 11

Wally had told his family that he would meet them at his mother's house. It was a shocking thing for him to tell everyone so suddenly, but how was he supposed to tell them? Over the phone?

He sighed, brushing his fingers through Rory's hair. She had it in pig tails and wore a Batman tee-shirt and jeans. She didn't do the whole skirt or dress thing.

Artemis watched the ground in slight shame, blushing a light pink and twiddling her thumbs. This was about as embarrassing as it got. She took Rory's hand, squeezing it tightly. Wally looked over at her and smiled, rubbing his hand on her shoulder. A tiny flutter lifted in her stomach.

Wally opened the door, announcing his presence loudly as he walked inside, followed by the girls. His mother and Aunt were in the Kitchen, his Uncle Barry had made himself at home in the living room.

"Wally." Barry said, smiling at his red-headed nephew. His mother and Aunt walked into the living room. "What's this big thing that you have to share with us?"

He smiled, trying to hide how nervous he was about this big introduction. Sighing in hesitation, he placed his hands on Rory's shoulders, bringing her forward.

The three sets of eyes looked at her, not fully understanding who this young girl was or what she was doing here.

"Barry," He started out, clearing his throat. "You remember Artemis…" His eyes grazed to her for a moment, then back to his family. "I…" He stuttered. "I thought that you should meet her daughter."

The faces of his family still looked confused… Rory blushed, sticking her hands in her pockets.

"_Our_ daughter." He corrected his last sentence. He tightened his grip on Rory's shoulders, careful not to hurt her.

Rory raised her eyes up, smiling awkwardly at the family.

Wally had been right about the mute awkward silence that would probably happen. No one really seemed to know what they were supposed to do or say about the situation that had been placed in front of them.

Artemis decided to be the first to start a conversation.

"Before anybody gets angry or freaked out," She said, "I want you all to know that I was very young when I had her. I never told anybody."

Rory was rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, feeling uncomfortable at all the eyes staring at her.

Mary West was the first to approach her, looking back at her son.

"You're serious?" She said, fearful of looking Rory in the eye. "Don't joke around about this, you're completely serious?"

Wally's calm expression opened into a bright and happy grin.

"You're a grandma." He said happily.

Mary bent down to Rory's height, examining her in what still seemed to be shock. Then she smiled, wrapping her arms around her granddaughter and laughing awkwardly.

"Oh my god…" Mary said as she laughed. "Oh my god!"

The next thing Rory knew she was stuffed in the middle of a big group hug, three pairs of arms surrounding her and touching her face, everyone trying to get a good look at her.

Wally laughed, "I probably should have warned you." He said. "My family hugs."

Barry got up, wrapping his arms around his nephew.

"I guess belated congratulations are in order." He said with a chuckle, releasing him and gripping a hand on his shoulder. "You plan on mentoring her?"

"Absolutely not." Artemis chimed in, blushing when the many pairs of eyes glanced at her. "I don't want her doing hero work."

"Isn't that _my_ decision?" Rory asked.

"Not when you're eleven it's not."

"And a half." Rory corrected.

Barry laughed, brushing a hand through his hair.

"That's about how old Wally was when I started training him. I do know how you're feeling though, I said no to him the first few times he asked, too. It's a big responsibility, especially when they're young. If anything happens to them, you have to be prepared to take the blame for it."

"I got hit by a car once." Wally pointed out with a giggle.

"If I remember correctly, it was the car that got hit by you. I had told you at least a thousand times at that point to pay attention to where you were going."

They laughed with each other, only being interrupted when Mary cleared her throat, signaling for Wally to follow her into the kitchen.

He stepped away from the group, walking with his mother.

"It's pretty amazing, isn't it?" He said, sighing happily.

His mother smiled and nodded, taking a few plates out to set the table.

"Honey," She said, "I'm not trying to start anything, but have you considered…"

She paused. "Making sure?"

"She's mine, mom. I mean, look at her."

Mary's grin expanded, her eyes watching him lovingly.

"I just wanted to make sure." She said, kissing her son on the cheek. There was still some tension in the house that was purely from shock. "She's so beautiful…"

"She really is, isn't she?"

He peaked into the living room; Iris was still on her knees cuddling Rory, who smiled awkwardly. Artemis was still having trouble taking her eyes off the ground. Of course the family was happy to have Rory in their lives now, but that didn't mean that they wanted her mother. Artemis had taken her from them, and they would have the right to be angry about that.

Mary had fought back tears when she had embraced her granddaughter for the first time, and Iris currently _was_ in tears.

"Are you made at her?" Wally asked. Mary looked at him, not sure if she understood. "Are you mad at Artemis for hiding her?"

There was a pause for a moment.

"I don't know…" Mary said. "She's my only grandchild, and I hardly even know her." She sighed, "What's her name?"

"Rory."

"That's a very pretty name…"

They began to quiet down once everyone else made their way into the kitchen, Iris still glued to Rory's side. Artemis approached Wally.

"Any chance that you have better table manners now than you did when we were teenagers?" She said jokingly, giving him a small smile.

"I wouldn't count on it." Wally said with a laugh. He weaved his fingers through hers, only able to hold her hand for a short moment before she pulled away, stepping away from him and sitting at the table next to Rory, who had recently begun introducing herself to everyone at the table. It was good that she was starting to open up.

Wally was hurt that Artemis had pulled away from him so quickly, thinking back to their relationship when they were younger. She had always been distant, always trying so hard to hide her real emotion. It had been something that Wally had both loved and hated about her.

* * *

><p>Dinner had gone smoothly, even though Barry, Iris and Rory seemed to be the center of every conversation. As the evening progressed, they had moved into the living room, listening to the young red head babble away about her short life.<p>

Artemis would look at her, and then look at Wally. Rory was her own person, but it was times like this that helped her remember how much the father and daughter were alike. They could both talk for about as long as they could eat, and they managed to make even the plainest conversations into Hollywood movie scripts, detailing them to make themselves the center of all the attention.

It made Artemis feel proud…

She hadn't spoken much during this whole get together. She had felt embarrassed, ashamed at herself for being reminded of all the things that she had taken away from her daughter's childhood.

Wally had come from such a loving household. They had all been so kind, no matter how rough or awkward the situation.

It had just taken her this long to see that…

Artemis was brought back into reality by a hand touching her shoulder. She looked up to see Wally smiling at her.

He sat next to her on the loveseat, putting a hand on her leg and rubbing it gently.

"I wanted you to know that Dick and I managed to get back in touch with the old team." He said. "If you're still okay with it, we'd like to all meet up at the café that we used to go when we were teens. You know the one."

Artemis nodded, looking more at his hand than at him.

"Yeah." She said quietly. "Sounds good…"

**A/N: I don't care if it's a different universe, I still dislike Wally's father and would prefer he not be in the picture, so I am not adding him. Anyway, I have a different story that I'm starting to draft, so if I start to slow down on my updating, feel free to yell at me.**

***pause* Good god, the weirdest noise just came from outside my apartment window…**

**Starry Flight: Your review really made my day :) Mainly because you're still so young. I hope that you continue writing! You have very good grammar for someone of your age, and I would love to read some of your stuff.**


	13. Part 12

Artemis and Rory sat in a booth accompanied by Wally and Dick; an awkward silence filled the air, covered up with the sound of dishes in the kitchen and the voices of waitresses and pedestrians in the tables surrounding the adult heroes. Dick sported a pair of black sunglasses, a disguise that he had grown just a tad too accustomed to, still wearing the dark spectacles even though his old teammates had long been aware of his secret identity.

"So…" Artemis let out in a deep sigh, "Think there's any way for this to get more awkward?"

"At least our daughter helps take off the burden of having to tell the old team we were having sex, I mean, I'm pretty sure that her birth will make that factor obvious."

Artemis blushed, giving Wally an embarrassed glare and glancing in Rory's direction, her head bobbing up and down to the beat of her walkman, headphones plugged securely in her ears.

"How about you watch your language in front of the eleven year old?"

"She has headphones in, she can't hear me." The redhead responded, sticking his tongue out playfully at Artemis. There was really no way to make this situation less awkward, but Wally was used to solving any drama with his inappropriate humor.

Dick let out a small chuckle, adjusting his sunglasses and getting up out of the booth. He gave an excited wave to someone, causing Wally to turn his head in response, looking for whoever his old friend had spotted.

"Zatanna!" He said with a smirk, giving the brunette a cheerful wave. Artemis got out of the booth and hugged her old friend, almost not noticing their other old teammate who walked behind her. It was weird to see them both grown up…

"Conner," She said quietly, touching her hand to his arm. He had already been fully grown when she last saw him, yet he seemed more complete now… In fact, he looked exactly like Clark, minus the cowlick and different eye color. He smiled at her, still showing his usual awkwardness of expressing emotions. There were some things that people just didn't outgrown.

Zatanna was beautiful in every aspect of the word; he hips, breasts and shoulders causing her to fit into her outfit perfectly. She sported a lavender blouse, a white scarf tied around her waist.

"Finally ditched the white capris?" Artemis asked with a giggle. She and Zatanna had never exactly had much in common, but something about them had clicked, sparking what had sadly been a short lived friendship.

The brunette laughed.

"I'm going to be thirty years old next year… I had to let them go sometime."

"You don't look a day over twenty-five." Dick chimed in, giving his old team mate a flirty smirk.

The old friends had gotten caught up in talking, meaning that it took them a moment to notice their other two team mates walk into the old café. Kaldur's naturally polite nature hadn't changed in the slightest; he stood quietly while the girls got caught up, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. M'gann was another story entirely. The bubbly Martian soon found herself in the arms of her old team mate, nothing but pure joy on her face.

"It's really great to see you guys." Artemis said with an uncomfortable smile, suddenly remembering what she would have to tell them…

She looked back at Rory, who sat with her elbows on the table, staring at the adults in curious silence. This was all very new to her… She had a father now… not to mention she was finally going to be interacting with real live superheroes. This was exactly what she had wanted her entire life… how come she didn't know how to feel about it?

M'gann hadn't changed in the slightest, yet used her powers of transformation to give herself a few age lines. She was sixty years old in earth years at this point, making her still a juvenile on her home planet. It was easy to tell that she was giving an honest attempt to act maturely in front of her grown up old friends, trying as hard as she always had to fit in. Kaldur was similar in appearance, also sporting little difference of his teenage years. His muscles had broadened, finally getting him past his awkward skinny years, and he sported age lines as well.

"It's so funny that we're all seeing each other again!" M'gann said cheerfully. "Especially you, Artemis!"

Zatanna nodded in agreement, smirking quietly and putting a hand on her hip.

"I know it isn't our business, but do you care to tell us where you ran off to all those years ago? You disappeared faster than I can say _deraeppasid_."

Artemis nodded slightly, nodding as she looked at the ground. They had all been so close when they were teenagers, and she felt like it was her fault that they had grown apart… She was the first to leave. She had been so young, how was she supposed to tell the team that she had gotten pregnant?

She looked over to Rory, who looked at her in wonder. She didn't know who any of these people were; she just knew that they were superheroes that her mother had once worked with. Wally was continuing to keep his eyes on the young girl, a smile on his face.

"Something came up…" The blonde continued, sighing slightly. She knew that she shouldn't be ashamed of herself… She didn't want Rory to think that she was embarrassed by her. "I had to leave… right away…"

She signaled her old team mates to join her at the table, the adults suddenly noticing the young redhead who sat next to her and Wally. "I had gotten pregnant…" She said quietly, brushing her hand through Rory's pigtails. "I thought that, since we were meaning up, it might be a good time for you to meet her. My daughter, I mean… Rufina…"

**A/N: I don't think I could ever apologize enough for how late this chapter was… I've been trying to do way too many things at once with school and writing, and now finals are coming up soon!**

**Enjoy middle and high school while you still can kids! Jk… College is waaaay better than that shit. Still, all I can do is quote M'gann… **

"**Too much at once, Alla! Too much at once!"**


End file.
